Wall Street stocks marked their longest period of decline in more than three decades on November 4 amid worries about the close U.S. presidential race.

Wall Street's main benchmark index -- the Standard & Poor's 500 index of blue-chip stocks -- fell for a ninth straight day for the first time since December 1980.

While the decline hasn't been deep -- the S&P racked up a total loss of 3.1 percent -- it has been broad, dragging down stock indexes from Tokyo to London and Santiago to Mumbai.

On November 4, Tokyo stocks lost 1.3 percent, London fell 1.4 percent, and the Paris and Frankfurt bourses slipped 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, as caution reigned ahead of the November 8 election.

Election-related jitters also sent the U.S. dollar to a more than one-month low against the Swiss franc, a currency viewed as a safe haven by many investors worried about market turmoil worsening in the days ahead.